Vividly Autistic

The Emotional Landscape of Autism One of the most important things to understand about the autistic experience is the intensity with which emotions are felt. As autistic neurodiversity advocate Janae Elisabeth describes it: sensory and emotional experience operate on a different scale: happiness can arrive as elation, sadness as devastation, grief as something that feels like the end of the world. The same intensity that applies to sound, light, touch, taste, and smell applies equally to the emotional world. Because the connection between emotions and the body is so immediate and so strong, movement becomes a primary tool for processing and self-regulation. Stimming — tapping, rocking, spinning, flapping, bouncing, dancing — is not a behavioural quirk to be eliminated. It is, as Elisabeth puts it, how many autistic people "stay in touch with their inner selves and their intense emotional world." Motion is emotional processing. Any approach that attempts to suppress stimming i...

This post was originally written during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and updated in 2026. Some references reflect that original moment in time and have been kept intentionally, as they are part of the history of this blog and the community it was written for. The book and film recommendations have been updated to reflect my current thinking.  What is stress? Stress is part of our natural response to the demands and challenges the environment places on us, it is a universal human experience. In many ways it is essential to our survival, preparing us to react quickly to stimuli we perceive as threatening. It is one of our most important adaptive resources. That said, chronic stress — sustained periods of exhaustion and overwhelm — can take a serious long-term toll, not only psychologically but physically as well. Autism and stress As I've mentioned in previous posts, autistic individuals navigate differences in social interaction and communication, as well as differences in sleep,...